Six women GPs have resigned from a surgery near Prince Charles’s Highgrove estate amid allegations of bullying by their lead doctor.

Former staff have claimed Dr Malcolm Gerald ruled over Romney House Surgery in the Cotswolds town of Tetbury as if it were ‘his personal kingdom’.

They say Dr Gerald, 60, belittled and intimidated his subordinates in front of patients and warned them they would be ‘picking up their P45’ if they spoke out.

Dr Malcolm Gerald (pictured) has been accused of 'bullying' GPs at Romney House Surgery in Tetbury

Now the Duchess of Beaufort, a patient at the surgery, the Earl of Suffolk and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles are among those seeking an investigation into the claims and almost 900 residents have signed a petition demanding that Dr Gerald step down.

Campaigners say he has driven out so many doctors that there is now just one full-time GP looking after the 5,500 residents of Tetbury. Many patients refuse to book appointments.

The Duchess of Beaufort (pictured centre, with the Duchess of Cornwall left) is a patient at the surgery and is one of the campaigners calling for an investigation into the claims against Dr Gerald

In addition to the doctors, the surgery has also lost three nurses, two practice managers, a deputy practice manager, a midwife, a pharmacist and a receptionist – all women, the campaigners say.

The local health authority is investigating after Dr Katharina Nehrig became the sixth female GP to resign in the past ten years.

Her departure in November angered her patients, who include the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, and led the local MP to demand an inquiry.

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Dr Nehrig joined the surgery as a junior GP in 2007 and was made a partner two years later. When Dr Gerald became senior partner in 2012, she said the atmosphere changed.

In September 2015, Dr Gerald resigned to take his pension, but returned 24 hours later as a junior doctor, with Dr Nehrig taking over as senior partner – but the problems continued.

Dr Nehrig, 44, said: ‘I loved the job. It took me a long time to decide to leave, but it was really becoming unhealthy

Dr Katharina Nehrig (pictured) became the sixth female GP to resign in the last ten years, saying the atmosphere had become 'unhealthy'

‘I was touched by the petition that was organised asking me to reconsider but there was no way I was going to go back.’

The mother-of-two now works as a locum doctor in Gloucestershire. Her resignation followed that of Dr Angela Kirby, who departed three years ago, and Dr Caroline Maxwell, who went in 2012.

The staff who resigned are all said to have cited difficulty working with Dr Gerald as their reason for leaving.

A former staff member, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Dr Gerald saw the practice as his own personal kingdom. There was no chance of anyone putting up any argument against Dr Gerald.

‘Staff just got on with it and if they didn’t like it they would just leave rather than put up with him. No one ever brought up any complaints against Dr Gerald because if they did they would be picking up their P45 the next day.’

She added: ‘There were numerous occasions when Dr Gerald would intimidate staff members in front of patients and that was very belittling.’

The claims, along with the departure of Dr Nehrig, prompted Miranda Somerset, the Duchess of Beaufort, who lives at nearby Badminton House, to intervene.

She said: ‘I rang the surgery to tell them how upset I was and I wanted to know what was behind her decision to leave.

‘When no one returned my call I was disappointed. Doctors of the calibre of Dr Nehrig are few and far between – for the surgery to lose someone like that was a disaster.’

The Duchess told fellow aristocrat Michael Howard, the Earl of Suffolk, and they met the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees surgeries in the county.

The Earl said: ‘I was very upset that the people of Tetbury felt it necessary to put a petition together, complaining about the service they were receiving from the surgery.

‘There has been an awful lot of unhappiness.’

The local Conservative MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said he wrote to the General Medical Council, the NHS and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt after he received a ‘dossier of serious alleged individual and anonymous complaints outlining the purported malpractice’.

He added: ‘It is important that this matter is dealt with, with the utmost thoroughness but calmly, in order to attract new GPs to work in the surgery and assure all residents that they will have a first-class and well-managed GP practice.’

The petition was launched last October by resident Alison Hesketh. Some patients alleged at a public meeting that Dr Nehrig was ‘bullied’ into going. Kesh Makhecha, the surgery manager, told residents at the meeting that Dr Nehrig was leaving for ‘personal reasons’.

Dr Caroline Maxwell resigned from the surgery in 2012 which now means the practice only has one GP for the 5,500 residents of Tetbury

He said: ‘There have been rumours, speculation, petitions, most of it very well intentioned. My difficulty is that I cannot engage in that kind of dialogue as an employee of the practice.’

Resident Leonie Hill said at the meeting: ‘You’ve got really good GPs who are being forced out – the ones that go above and beyond their job.

‘These are the people we want in our town, these are the people we want to treat our elderly and families.’

Dr Gerald, who was registered in 1981, has been at the practice for more than 30 years. Romney House is one of eight South Cotswold district surgeries in the South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Mr Makhecha said on Dr Gerald’s behalf: ‘I can confirm that the whole practice team will co-operate fully with the independent investigation commissioned by NHS England and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group.

‘Meanwhile, we remain focused on our primary task of providing the best possible service for patients.’